"Hey Doc! How is it going?" Jack called as soon as Janet set foot into the infirmary.
Damn. She really had hoped she could sneak into her office without meeting the guys from SG1. Well, she would have had to check on Colonel O'Neill soon enough, but she'd have preferred to have a few minutes to herself before meeting them. Apparently not. Sighing, she turned around to not only see Jack sitting up in his bed, but also Daniel and Teal'c standing on either side of him. Great.
"Soooo Doc, how is Sam doing?" he asked, once she was close enough that he wouldn't have to shout. He - well all three of them - were curious about Sam's whereabouts, they knew she wasn't allowed on base for the next few days, but they hadn't reached her at home either. So they came after the person most likely to know about Sam.
"She is fine," she replied, almost anticipating their - well, the Colonel's and Daniel's - reaction. If she couldn't have the 5 minutes in her office, she was at least going to have some fun!
"Janet," Daniel whined.
"Daniel," she replied amused, not able to hide the little smirk, that was forming on her face.
"Doc."
"Colonel."
Oh yes, she was really enjoying this! Especially as Colonel O'Neill was now scowling at her. Which also told her that he was feeling much better today.
"Doctor Frasier, I believe Daniel Jackson and O'Neill wish to know if you are aware of Major Carter's whereabouts, as she was not at home but, using her mobile communication device, merely informed both of them that she was indeed fine." Teal'c explained solemnly. And although Janet wasn't sure, she also thought to have seen a small smile on his face.
"Oh, then why didn't you ask in the first place?" Janet asked innocently, looking at both Jack and Daniel. And this time she was sure Teal'c was smiling. But as he was standing behind the other two, the other two weren't able to see it and continued to scowl at her.
And Teal'c was indeed smiling. When he first came to the infirmary to look after O'Neill and found both him and Daniel Jackson concerned about Major Carter's whereabouts, he too was eager to learn what Dr. Frasier knew. But seeing the Doctor relaxed, and even having a bit of fun with his two companions, he was sure that Major Carter was indeed fine. Therefore he allowed himself to enjoy the little banter in front of him.
"Fine." Daniel said, pouting slightly. "Do you know where Sam is? She is not at home and wouldn't say more than that she's fine when I called her on her mobile phone."
Still smiling at Daniel, she finally let them off the hook.
"Sam is really fine. She just had some unexpected family thing come up and she went to sort it out. I'm sure she wasn't more talkative because she was busy," she replied more seriously, remembering just what Sam was doing at the moment. This morning, Janet had called Jake to see how they were doing and he had assured her that both Sam and Caity were already better, that they were going to be fine.
"So shouldn't we inform Jacob then? I mean a 'family thing' would mean him too, right?" Jack asked slightly concerned. He hadn't missed the short frown when Janet had talked about Sam. The Doc didn't seemed to be too concerned now, but that frown was enough to get him interested.
"No!" Janet replied a bit too forcefully, before continuing more calmly, "That won't be necessary. And I can assure you that Sam is just fine, she just needs time to sort some things out. General Hammond is probably going to tell you soon anyway, but Sam has taken 2 weeks off to do just that."
"Two weeks! That's a hell of a lot of time," Daniel replied. "Why didn't she tell us?"
"Because she got the call on Sunday morning, as soon as she arrived home. After that, she wanted to leave as early as possible and called General Hammond to request a vacation. She just packed some things up, told me what happened and then left. So yes, I know where she is." Janet answered without actually mentioning her own role. Not that she was directly lying, she just didn't mention that she left with Sam, actually driving her to her destination. Pushing the slight guilt about this aside, she continued on a much lighter note. "And one thing is sure, she'll definitely rest over those two weeks. Believe me, the people she's with can be just as protective as you - probably more, if that's possible at all. She won't be allowed to do anything, which is exactly what she needs right now."
"We aren't that bad!" both Jack and Daniel replied at the same time, making Janet smile once again - and telling Janet that she better release the Colonel soon or he'd be a pain in the ass to her and her staff.
"Yes, you are," Janet replied amused. Hopefully she had them convinced to leave Sam alone for a while - and her too for that matter. Shaking her head at a once again pouting Daniel, she shooed both him and Teal'c out of the infirmary, so that she could have a closer look at Colonel O'Neill. He was her patient after all.
xoxoxoxoxo
It was already late afternoon until Janet finally had time to talk to General Hammond about the open microbiologist position. She had just released Colonel O'Neill from her infirmary, making a lot of people very happy in the process, and was now heading for General Hammonds office. Daniel and Teal'c had volunteered to take the Colonel home, so she was safe from any more inquiries about Sam. At least for today. Although they had refrained from asking any more questions, she was well aware of the questioning look Colonel O'Neill was sending in her direction whenever she passed his bed. And Daniel wasn't much better. Oh yeah, Sam's return was definitely going to be very interesting!
Straightening up once more as she arrived at her destination, Janet knocked at the General's office and entered when told to do so.
"Dr. Frasier, have a seat," General Hammond greeted her warmly, happily moving the boring report he was reading aside. "You wanted to talk about the open position in your department?"
"Yes, sir."
"So can I assume that you received an answer from your favourite candidate?" he asked politely.
"Yes, sir. Dr. Pullman is very interested in the position and is also aware of the necessary security checks. He would be a great addition to the SGC," Janet replied enthusiastically.
"Very well. Why don't you leave the necessary information with me and I'll see to it that he is cleared as soon as possible."
"Thank you, sir." Janet answered hesitantly.
"Was there something else?" General Hammond asked curiously. He knew his CMO pretty well and right now she seemed to be a little nervous, something he rarely observed with her.
"Ah… yes. It's about Dr. Pullman, actually," she started, still unsure of how to proceed.
"Are you worrying he'll fail the security check?" he asked. Cause if it was something like that, than maybe they were better off with someone else, no matter how qualified he may be.
"No, I don't think that will be a problem," she replied reassuringly. Taking a deep breath, she started again. "Until this Sunday I didn't know him personally, we've been only in contact via e-mail or phone. On Sunday I learned that he changed his name to his wife's after marrying her."
"Why would that be a problem?" General Hammond asked completely confused. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find a reason why Dr. Frasier was bringing this up. It was after all a personal decision Dr. Pullman made and should have nothing do with him possibly starting to work here.
"Well, he used to go by Jacob Carter, Jr."
"WHAT?" he all but shouted. To say he was shocked, would have been an understatement. "Sorry Major," he continued after taking a deep breath, "I didn't meant to shout at you, but this was absolutely unexpected!"
"It's okay, sir. To be honest, my reaction was about the same when Jake told me he was actually the Dr. Pullman I offered a job a few weeks earlier," she replied, smiling slightly.
"Please continue," he asked, still trying to figure things out.
"Well, Sam told me about Jake a long time ago. She just never mentioned him changing his name, so I assumed he was still going by Jake Carter. Anyway, on Sunday Sam needed to go there, and as she was in no position to drive herself, I offered to drive her to Denver. It actually was the first time I met Jake and his family and at some point he asked me if that job was still available. To say I was dumbfounded by his question would be an understatement," she said, smiling as she remembered that particular question. "Anyway, Sam wasn't and still isn't aware of this job offer. And Jake would like to keep it this way, until he's hopefully accepted to join us."
"Wow, that's something," General Hammond finally muttered.
"I know what you mean, sir," Janet replied sympathetically, before giving him time to think things through.
Another Carter at the SGC, because no matter what his name was now, if he hadn't changed completely he was a Carter through and through. Including the stubbornness. Yes, this would definitely be interesting. According to Dr. Frasier, Jake also had the same knack for thinking outside the box as Sam, something that was a big advantage around here, which of course was the main reason why she wanted him to work here. Even before she knew he was Sam's brother. Also, knowing how much Jake meant to Sam, he figured it'd probably good for her too – and he should be a good ally in getting her to leave the base more regularly. All those things were in favour of Jake – no, Dr. Pullman as he called himself these days.
The only problem he could think of was Jake's relationship with his father. According to Jacob, the last time he saw or spoke to his son was at his wife's funeral. Even Sam wasn't able to get Jake talking to his father again, although Jake would do almost everything for her. But in their line of work at the SGC a meeting of both of them was inevitably, they might even have to work together. So before he could make any decision concerning Jake, he had to make sure that that wasn't going to become a problem.
"Dr. Frasier, I assume you are aware of the difficult relationship between Dr. Pullman – Jake – and his father?" he asked after several minutes. Having known Jake quite well when he was a teenager, calling him Dr. Pullman just sounded weird. So he decided to stick with the familiar Jake for the time being.
"Yes, sir. And Jake is aware that he might run into his father and even have to work with him, and he's willing to do so. He isn't exactly excited about the prospect of meeting him after all these years, but he's willing to give it a try. Even if it wouldn't work out on the personal level, I'm absolutely confident that it won't affect any possible working relationship." Janet replied confidently.
Weighing his options once again, he finally decided to go with his CMO's instincts in finding the best personal for her department. And truth be told, Jake was a Carter, so he would fit here just fine.
"Very well then. I'll make sure to get the security check out of the way as soon as possible. Then you can tell Jake what exactly he will be doing here, giving him the chance to back off again." he finally said, before adding on a lighter note, "Although, to be honest, I can't see him doing so. He's a Carter after all and the Stargate seems to have an in-built Carter-magnet or something."
"You might be right on that one, sir." Janet replied chuckling.
"So can I assume that Major Carter is spending her holidays in Denver with her brother?" General Hammond asked suddenly.
"Yes, sir." Janet replied cautiously. She so didn't want to start a discussion why Sam was there in the first place.
Sensing her uneasiness with this topic, the General asked concerned, "I hope there is nothing wrong with Jake. Or his family?"
"No, sir. Don't worry, Jake's family is fine. Actually, they'll make sure that Sam gets the rest she needs. As for anything else happening, I'm sure that if there's something to talk about, Major Carter will be doing so as soon as she gets back from her holiday," Janet replied, her tone clearly indicating that she wasn't going to say more. Though General Hammond was her CO, this was something very personal for Sam and she had no right to interfere in any way.
Understanding her unwillingness to discuss her friend's personal life with their CO, he nodded in understanding, letting the topic drop. Nevertheless he was wondering what the near future would bring to them. And if Jake's willingness to possibly work with his estranged father had something to do with it.
Finally dismissing Dr. Frasier, he went back to the long forgotten report on his desk. Though it took quite some time before he was able to concentrate on it again, as he was still pondering the definitely interesting talk he just had with his base's CMO. One this was for sure, life never got boring at the SGC.
A/N:
Wow! Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter! They really made
my day and I'm glad you liked it, especially after the trouble I had
writing it!
Anyway, writing this chapter turned out to be pretty… interesting. I like to write stuff backwards, like writing the introduction at the end – or start with the last scene of a chapter. That's what I did here but when I was almost finished I realised that this part was long enough to be a chapter on it's own! Then I wrote the first scene and realised I had Jack running around the base as if nothing had happened, so I had to slightly rewrite this part too. Looks like my friend, the muse, was having fun again. LOL
To answer a couple of your questions … we are going to learn about Caity's father in the next chapter. GateSeeker2: the answers to your questions are 'Yes', 'Maybe', 'Never thought about it … yet' – but you have to decide which answers which. LOL.
Anyway, please don't forget to review! Thanks! And as the next chapter is almost finished – of course it's missing the beginning – it should be out by Friday.